Saturday, August 6, 2016

Bee update

Stupidly didn't get supers on beehives 2 weeks ago - when I checked yesterday the super on the old hive was full, and the deeps on two of the four other hives were also full, and the third had only one empty frame. The fourth hive is the nasty one that only had one deep because they spend so much energy stinging things they are slow to bring in honey (that's my theory anyway). But they had finally filled their one deep. Sooooooo they got a second deep that I hope they will fill in the next 4-6 weeks, before everything stops blooming. I do NOT want to have to feed those little jerks. The other hives all got new supers (and three of those were brand spanking new woodwork with brand spanking new frames not filled out, bummer). Well, I'll get at least one full super of honey to add to the super full I've got in the cooler in the house. If nothing else I'll hope the other frames get filled out to save time next year. I am somewhat aggravated that I'm going to have to treat the old hive for varroa, since I saw three bees with mites in the beard at their entrance yesterday. This confirms what MSU entomology has been saying - treat your hives or they will die off their second winter. I'm not going to treat the new ones - they were all swarms, so they should have a reasonably low mite load. But the two year old hives are getting treated with something the first week of Sept. I haven't decided what to use yet. I talked to a commercial beekeeper yesterday and he has gone to oxalic acid. Have to check on availability and price (the local bee store doesn't have it in stock) online. Something else to do this upcoming week...

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About Me

This is my record of hopes and happenings on our little homestead. Sometimes, it's also a place for me to vent so that I can then go back to being my usual calm, quiet self (yes, those are my children laughing hysterically over my shoulder). If you roll your eyes, I might mistake one for my missing d20...